We have restored or are restoring a few older planes plus a basic assortment
of new planes have been selected.

see the new plane till project...

Very quickly it became a priority
to have a place to keep these planes safe but still handy. So a quick
look at plane tills on the Internet provided an idea of what I wanted.

I decided to just use some materials that were laying around. After
this first effort I might want to make a nice storage cabinet but for
the moment I need a quick and simple fix. I mocked up my ideas in SketchUp.

A quick test fit provided some ideas for how
the planes should be held in place.

A beveled oak base strip was glued in place.
The bottom of the planes will rest against the front edge of this strip.
Thus the sole of the plane will not actually, fully rest against the
MDF. This will help prevent moisture build-up between the sole and the
MDF.

To properly space out the side retaining strips
I used the actual width of the plane plus 1/8 inch...I used a brass
spacer rod...and I glued and pinned the strips while making sure that
they were square.

Here are the finished oak retainer strips.

The test fit.

After determining that the planes fit well, all ply edges
were covered with strips of oak to make them hold up to punishment.

Front trim was installed and the piece doubles as a lip to
make sure that the planes do not slide off the front edge.

When attempting to secure the till to the
metal clad door, there were problems using standard wall anchors. They
are meant to work after a 1/2 inch of drywall or more. The metal sheet
was too thin for those kind of anchors.

So I took a T-Nut and bent back the flanges
that are designed to grip into wood.

I then pounded them into a hole drilled
into the metal and secured the unit with silicone adhesive.

5/8 inch-18 thread bolts were used to secure the till to the door.

The till hangs on one of the two doors that
exit to the east. These door ares only opened to bring in items that
do not fit well through the front door.

The unit sits above the workbench.

There is storage on the peg board to the
right for chisels and plane blades.

Add-ons...

I have to wait until I built the new workbench
before I make some nice chisel racks...so I created some temporary add-ons
for the plane till to hold chisels...

In the front is a simple oak ledge whichprovides a place for the Lie-Nielsen bevel bench chisels and
LN mortise chisels.

Right side platform for the Ray Iles morstise
chisel and the two LN drawbore pins.

On the left side, a platform for two shop made
skew chisels (Narex 10 mm bench chisels) and two Blue Spruce Toolworks
fishtail chisels.

After final move to south wall, an addition
to the right side, the inclusion of the large Sorby corner chisel and
some protective barriers to prevent an accident of flesh on steel.

A new iteration...the plane till has moved to
the south wall to the right of the new window. It is hanging on a French
cleat. The front chisel rack has been removed.

At the top of the till are a couple of older
wooden planes plus:Wood River Standard Block
Wood River Low Angle Block